Guidelines for ELC Individual Study

1. Individual Studies are open only to juniors and seniors. Applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 in their major. English majors must have taken ENGL 295 and at least two upper-level courses in the major. Non-English majors must have taken at least three courses in English, Linguistics or Communication, including two at the upper-level.
2. The subject area of the Individual Study must be appropriate for this department.
3. The Individual Study must not duplicate a course that is listed in the catalog or a special topics course that is offered in the same semester as the proposed Individual Study.
4. With advice from the sponsoring faculty, the student develops a description of the project, including a statement of objectives and list of activities that will fulfill these objectives. The work must merit 3 credits. The following information must be provided:
   • motivation and preparation for undertaking the Individual Study, including a description of previous course work that is relevant to the proposed area of study and that prepares the student to undertake the study
   • a reading list of appropriate primary and/or secondary sources
   • a schedule of conferences between student and faculty (at least once every two weeks), indicating anticipated subject of discussion and hence progress in the study
   • a listing of the substantial oral and/or written work to be performed by the student, with a focus toward a central project
5. Faculty undertake Individual Studies only in areas in which these faculty feel appropriately qualified to guide and evaluate student work. Some Individual Studies may require a co-sponsor in another department. Full-time faculty will undertake no more than three Individual Studies per semester. Adjunct faculty will not ordinarily take on Individual Studies and may not supervise more than one Individual Study student per year unless additional financial compensation is provided.
6. The deadline for submitting your proposal to the chair of the ELC Committee on Individual Studies is the end of the first week of classes. The 2011-2012 chair is Dr. LaBreche.
7. Individual study projects that have been approved, in final draft, by an ELC faculty sponsor will be approved by the committee on individual studies, although changes or additions may be requested. Please do not sign up for an additional course unless you intend to keep both it and the individual study.

You can find a helpful checksheet for your individual study application here: CHECKSHEET FOR INDIVIDUAL STUDY

You can find sample proposals for creative and scholarly individual studies here.

You can review the UMW procedure for registering an independent study here.

Policy revised: 4/29/08; updated 11/19/09, 4/26/10, 9/10/10.